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Construction

Accounting software for construction companies

A contractor's receipts never match its invoices. The client holds retention and recovers the mobilisation advance from every progress bill, and the books have to show both.

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In short

SimpleERP is accounting software for construction companies. Progress bills post revenue and tax, the mobilisation advance waits on the client's account, retention is tracked as a receivable, and site material sits in the inventory account.

Illustration: saving invoice INV-2026-0213 moves stock, posts the customer ledger, records tax and updates the dashboard in one step.

An accounting day at Al Noor Contracting

Progress bill four for the Al Barsha office block was $42,000 with tax. Eleven days later $36,000 arrived in the bank. The accountant at Al Noor Contracting knows why, but the difference has to land in two different places in the books.

The developer kept back $2,000 as 5 percent retention until the defects period ends and recovered $4,000 against the mobilisation advance it paid when work began. Multiply that by two sites and twelve months and the client's ledger in the old software never reached zero.

SimpleERP keeps each of those amounts in an account of its own, so the client's balance is what they genuinely owe and the retention due back in two years is a figure you can read off the balance sheet.

Which accounts does a contractor need beyond the seeded chart?

Add two accounts once: retention receivable and, if your accountant prefers, a separate account for mobilisation advances received. Everything else is seeded.

  • Client ledger at zero for the bill once all four parts are posted.
  • Retention receivable by client in the account detail, for the day it falls due.
AccountAmountHow it gets there
Contract revenue$40,000The progress bill invoice
VAT payable$2,000The progress bill invoice
Bank$36,000Receipt allocated to the bill
Mobilisation advance (on account)$4,000Part of the advance allocated to the bill
Retention receivable$2,000Manual journal naming the client
Where each part of progress bill four for $42,000 ends up in the books (5% VAT as in the UAE).

How does the mobilisation advance get recovered bill by bill?

When the developer paid $30,000 before work began, it went in as a receipt left on account. Each month, allocate the agreed slice of that advance to the progress bill along with the bank receipt, and the advance shrinks until it is fully recovered.

  • On-account balance on the customer statement at any date.
  • Allocation of several receipts or advances to one invoice.
  • Tax on the advance: some countries tax an advance when it is received; SimpleERP does not post tax on the receipt, so your accountant accounts for it.

Illustration of a profit and loss statement for Jan–Jun 2026 with net profit of 4,691, a tax summary and the lock date.

The client's statement with progress bills, receipts and the advance.

What should a contractor check before closing the month?

The checks tie the sites to the books. When they pass, set the lock date so a late supplier bill goes into the open month instead of rewriting a closed one.

  • Site counts posted, so stock value matches the inventory account.
  • Labour contractor and dealer bills entered for work and material received.
  • Supervisors' claims approved and reimbursed.
  • Bank reconciled by ticking cleared cheques and transfers.

One system

What it connects to

Honest limits

What SimpleERP does not do yet

  • No bank feeds: bank entries are recorded and reconciled by hand
  • No multi-currency; every document is in your base currency
  • Tax returns are not filed and e-invoices are not issued from inside the product
  • No project accounting or site-wise profit; a branch per site filters registers and expenses only
  • No retention money tracking on invoices; retention lives in a ledger account by journal

Getting started

Start with accounting

  1. Sign up with your email

    Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.

  2. Tell us about the business

    Pick your country and, if you are registered, type your tax number. Accounts, tax rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for that country.

  3. Enter opening balances

    Bring in what each client owes, the mobilisation advances still to be recovered, retention held back on old bills and dealer balances.

  4. Run the trial balance

    Every posted document is already in the ledger; the trial balance and P&L are ready on any date.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Can I see how much retention every client is holding?

Yes, through the retention receivable account. Each journal names the client, so the account detail lists retention by client and bill. When the defects period ends and the money comes back, record the receipt against that account.

Will the books show profit on the Al Barsha job alone?

Not as a job P&L. There is no project accounting yet. With a branch per site you can filter invoices, expenses and registers by site, and with a warehouse per site you see material there, but the full site profit is still worked out outside.

Our labour comes through a labour supplier who raises a bill. Where does it go?

Record it as a supplier bill under a labour charges account and pay it from payables. The supplier ageing then shows what you owe each labour supplier.

Can my accountant and I both work in the books?

Yes. Give your accountant the Accountant role, invite them by email, and keep your own login as Owner. The audit history shows who posted or reversed each entry, and the lock date stops changes to closed months.

Related

See how accounting works in SimpleERP for construction and contractors

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